“Chef Danny” Amend’s favorite of the crops that he grows is salinova oak leaf lettuce, the middle row. “It’s a beautiful head lettue, it almost looks like a hedgehog to me,” said Amend. ( Michael Bloom) These greens are dialed in Growing up, Danny Amend spent a lot of time in the family garden in California’s Sonoma County, weeding and hauling wheelbarrows... Features 07 Dec 2022 | 11:58
A cow at Kezialain Farm in the Town of Minisink, N.Y., which has been in the Lain family since 1775. ( Keith Stewart) The biggest burpers Sorry if this spoils your day but here’s yet another thing to worry about: burping cows. No crap. Cow burps and, to a lesser... Features 09 Jan 2023 | 04:50
Plant jewelry Stuff we dig Looking for something different? Here’s what we liked this year. 1. Plant jewelry: It’s not only a lovely accent to your favorite... Features 13 Oct 2022 | 11:44
A wolf at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. Wolves howl to find a mate, as a rallying call to gather their family, to advertise their territory, as a defensive strategy and as “social glue.” ( Meryl Phair) Sleeping with wolves: a suburban adventure As thirty-plus wolves howl outside my tent, I reassure myself as a vegetarian I will likely be the last meal choice. The... Features 18 Aug 2022 | 08:51
An open Recompose vessel and cradle. ( Katrina Spade) Dissolving, composting: the new frontier in eco-friendly endings When we die, we leave behind flesh and bones and assorted entrails that have to be dealt with. This is not a subject many... Features 28 Jun 2022 | 01:55
The nouveau black dirt Springtime on a farm always feels like a race. Here, it’s a full-on sprint. The moment Alix Daguin materialized in the barn... Features 28 Jun 2022 | 02:23
The two families that make up the permanent contingent of the Freedom Farm community. ( Robert Breese) This is what food justice looks like A warm, earthy smell drifted in from the snow-covered fields as I pulled up to Freedom Farm – how welcome in the doldrums... Features 31 Mar 2022 | 02:09
Swallow of a different color I wouldn’t exactly call myself a birdwatcher, but I do like birds. I’m especially fond of chickadees, mourning doves, cardinals,... Features 20 Dec 2021 | 01:55
Harrison working his bees barehanded. He gets stung so often that by the end of the season, he hardly reacts anymore. ( Becca Tucker) The EpiPen kid Eleven-year-old Patrick Harrison was the EpiPen kid. After a bee sting at Cub Scout camp blew him up like “the Michelin man,”... Features 09 Feb 2022 | 12:03
Seven minutes to midnight In 2017, I began visiting federal prisoners as a volunteer with Prisoner Visitation and Support. One of the first men I met... Features 29 Nov 2021 | 10:19
Stuff we dig 1. Beeswax CandlesAlysia Mazzella, 32, is a self-taught chandler who sources all her beeswax from independent apiaries in... Features 08 Oct 2021 | 12:02
Where eagles fly Last winter was cold and the snow was deep. If you happened to be a non-hibernating, four-legged herbivore there was almost... Features 16 Sep 2021 | 02:57
Maxfield chose the ogre-faced spider because of its “two huge front-facing eyes... I figured that people tend to connect better to animals that have big round eyes like that.” Insect declines are having knock-on effects up the food chain on animals like birds and spiders, whose webs have fewer bugs in them these days. ( Illustration by Zoe Maxfield) The good, the bad and the bugly I freely admit, when it comes to healthy living from the ground up, I am a newbie. One of the most difficult challenges I’ve... Features 20 Jul 2021 | 02:01
Sarah Hambrick with a flat of marigolds growing in a greenhouse in Chester. ( Becca Tucker) ‘Bride’s best friend’ grows local roots Sarah Hambrick was 19, bouncing from major to major at Dutchess Community College, the winter she took a seasonal job at... Features 23 Jun 2021 | 03:13
Everett Cox on Memorial Day ( Photo by Dorathea Hahn) ‘They’re facing their mortality, my generation’ I never imagined that lonely old vets – from WWII, Korea, Vietnam – or their caregivers would hold my hand while crying and... Griterati 04 Jun 2021 | 12:27
